New Brunswick Libraries Faculty (NBLF), (J. Niessen, Chair)

Chair's Report

T. Yang was the only nominee for the NBLF Arts and Humanities representative, but has agreed to instead act as Vice Chair. J.
Niessen will serve as Arts and Humanities rep, but will be on sabbatical in the Fall. Tao will fill in for Jim in his absence. T.
Glynn will continue as NBISG chair, and K. Mulcahy as NBCG chair. General /reference will be shared among the three subject/area
chairs.

Assessment of the NBLF Meeting Experience in 2013-2014

Previously, separate monthly meetings were held for NBLF, NBCG, and NBISG. They were optional except for the requisite two NBLF
meetings per semester. The change to combined meetings was proposed to cut down on the number of meetings on the librarians'
calendars and improve attendance at the fewer remaining meetings. Although attendance is discretional, it is anticipated that
attendance at NBLF meetings are a priority for most.

Discussion of the format included comments by some who liked the new format, and by others who feel that the new format does not
allow for more meaningful discussion. The following suggestions and comments were made:

Keeping the same Friday meeting date reserved, with each group meeting less frequently but separately. NBISG could be folded into NBLF, since these agendas are generally brief.

Continuation of participation by G. Smulewitz (DTS) and M. Weber (TAS), which has become difficult with the new meeting structure.

Rotating the groups that start the meeting, which would allow better planning for participation by DTS, etc. Teleconferencing is a possibility.

Concern was voiced about losing participation in NBISG if it is a separate meeting, but including it with NBLF would eliminate this problem.

One of the benefits of the current format is that it eliminates the need to repeat the same information at several meetings. For example, when we held the three meetings separately, the AUL RIS report in any given month would be repeated at NBLF, NBISG, and NBCG because attendance varied slightly between each group; giving one report at one meeting eliminates the repetition.

Some see the time constraints of the current format as positive, because it forces decisions to be made instead of carrying over.

NBCG might warrant its own meeting because not all of its concerns are actionable; and that they require more discussion.

It was proposed possibly having one additional meeting for NBCG to discuss issues prior to bringing them into NBLF.

It was agreed that the current structure be kept for the time being, with each group rotating for the opening position on the
agenda, allowing it to be the primary focus of the joint meeting and take most of the allotted time. This is an interim suggestion
until the reorganization takes place. We should also seek a better way to include DTS and TAS representatives.

AUL report: M. Just

The Libraries have met with Disabilities Services, who will be doing an audit of resources for students with disabilities.
Disability Services will be working with the Libraries and OIT to review licenses for adaptive learning software, with the goal of
trying to make products uniformly available across the University. Their office is also working on scanning materials for students
with vision impairments and is interested in collaborating with the Libraries on this effort. We are all looking into sharing
resources within the CIC. The Disabilities Services office has an MLIS intern who is interested in disability services in libraries,
who could work with us on projects such as doing a scan of adaptive technologies available at our peer institutions.

There was a suggestion by faculty from the English department about implementing a required Libraries tutorial for new and transfer
students about research skills to improve their information literacy and prevent "panic-induced plagiarism". There is a conference
for undergraduate teaching in which the English department would like the Libraries' involvement. M. Just will send an e-mail asking
for those who are interested to participate.

M. Just will be meeting with G. Agnew and T. Izbicki to discuss the coordination of technology needs for new and future areas for
development, such as Digital Humanities and GIS. Before the meeting, M. Just is interested in hearing what types of technology
(software, hardware, services) would be helpful to support the work of public services. She will send out an e-mail asking for
examples of technology restrictions and opportunities.

New Brunswick Collections Group (NBCG), (Mulcahy, Chair)

Chair's Report and Budget Update

There is no additional news on the budget. There has been no further information since Marianne's last meeting with administration.

K. Mulcahy reviewed spreadsheets (available in Sakai) on the status of our collection funds. State funds were increased by $400,000
but we have taken on RBHS payments for resources, leaving a deficit. The budget was hurt by these new obligations, as well as by not
accounting for inflation. Non-state funds declined by almost $250,000, reaching the lowest figure in the decade. We will be adding
approximately 13,000 books through approval and firm orders, the lowest in many years.

Draft Petition on Collections Budgeting

It was suggested that the petition is too collections focused. Others would like to add language to the petition to incorporate
other library services. K. Mulcahy will try to include positive language about what could be accomplished.

It was suggested we add the word services to the second line at top of the draft petition (in boldface), also change the language
about print to include digital resources and add language about new online journals and databases. We should also add language about
the Libraries receiving money through research grants.

Services are dependent on collections; without good collections we will not be able to provide services to researchers. K. Mulcahy
reminded the liaisons to use their own judgment when circulating the petition to their faculty, revising as needed.

The fact most likely to get attention by the administration may be that our collections lag behind our peer and aspirant
institutions. This should be moved to the top position on the petition. It was also suggested we put the petition on our website.

The possibility of circulating a survey instead of a petition was discussed; however it was decided that a petition provides
information that our faculty may not have, instead of looking for information from them. A petition is seen as a way of
demonstrating our value to the University. A comments section could be added to the petition as a compromise. The comments would
also be forwarded to President Barchi.

It was pointed out that M. Gaunt presented the budget scenarios to the University Librarian's Advisory Committee and faculty
representatives in that group were interested in advocating on the Libraries' behalf to the wider university community; we do not
want our efforts to conflict with theirs. It was felt that the Advisory Committee would be a good test case for the petition, and
that the findings could be presented by them and M. Gaunt to the administration. K. Mulcahy will contact a faculty member on the
Advisory Committee to discuss the petition draft.

New Brunswick Information Services Group (NBISG), (T. Glynn, Chair)

Chair's report

We were not able to have a discussion on the website's discovery layer as planned, because J. Deodato was not able to attend this
meeting. T. Glynn would like to get NBISG items for the annual report; he will send out an e-mail request.

RIOTing and other ways of sharing and testing ideas in public services

F. Giannetti reported on her experiences with the RIOT technique at UT-Austin. This is different from Rutgers RIOT, it is more like
a discussion and information sharing group. The presenter would present for 5 minutes on a preselected reading about instruction,
and then a free-form discussion would ensue. Another participant was the blogger, who would report on the discussion. Presentation
duties would rotate. For RIOTing at UT, see:
http://blogs.lib.utexas.edu/utlis/category/how-to-riot/

L. Charles informed us about the activities of the instruction group which began meeting recently; she will be presenting their
efforts by coming to our different libraries. They have also considered starting a blog.

M. Gasparotto suggested that observing each other's instruction sessions can be useful. All are welcome to observe hers.

M. Kesselman notes that some fields are very closed, and students get all their information from a faculty advisor. Instruction
needs to include methods which will be relevant when students leave Rutgers. We should be documenting these ideas and techniques for
sharing amongst ourselves, and for feedback.

L. Todorinova said the blog is a good forum for sharing information with other libraries, and also the MLIS students.

It was decided that the Libraries will set up a blog. L. Todorinova will investigate options including the Camden- based blog
platform. We will start with New Brunswick public services, and might later bring the idea to USC and PlanCo for university-wide
use.

Announcements

K. Hartman was introduced as the new chair of NBLF. The first meeting will be Friday September 5th in Alexander Library. We will
continue to meet at Alex in fall, LSM in the spring. Thank you to J. Niessen, T. Glynn, and K. Mulcahy for their leadership.

M. Just announced that the 3rd candidate for the head of access services position will be presenting next week; please attend.

T. Kuchi informed us that in October, librarians from Myanmar will be visiting. Library faculty will be asked to participate in a
variety of ways to help host the librarians. More details will be shared closer to October.

L. Charles will be sending out information about new instruction efforts and techniques that she will be bringing to each library to
help prepare us for instruction this fall, when we will need to fill in for classes previously taught by E. Stec.